Here it is, the long-awaited NZ equivalent of my greatest hit singles/albums of all time list I made a while back. Just like last time, I’ll be presenting this as a countdown, meaning that each entry will be more successful than the last as we go down this list. The main difference here of course is that unlike here in Australia, there was only one chart in NZ over the years, meaning that there won’t be multiple entries from singles/albums from the late 80’s/90’s/00’s like there was on my Australian list. Also, I won’t be including entries from the RIANZ charts given how they didn’t track album sales and that they were based on popular votes rather than sales, that and there was only ever a top twenty which means there’s a good chance they were struggling to fill out the top twenty each week during its run.
#100
The Feelers were a NZ rock band who scored a huge breakthrough in their homeland with their debut album, I'm guessing this was a huge success due to it coming out at the height of the alternative rock scene which their music was a perfect fit for around this time.
#99
While she didn't see much success earlier in the decade in NZ with her band Yazoo, Alison Moyet more than made up for it by having her debut album be one of the biggest hits of the decade over there due to how much the kiwis seemed to love her voice on this album. Their love for her continued with her next album which was also a massive success for the English vocalist.
#98
We have another album that was much bigger in NZ than it was in Australia, although in this case it did come at the expense of the singles as they weren't the runaway success over there like they were here for Eurythmics. Their next album did fairly well over there despite it being a huge flop over here.
#97
Given how these guys already had a massive hit with their previous album over in NZ (and a mainstream hit at that unlike a sleeper hit here in Australia) it only makes sense that this album would also be massive over there months prior to when it took off in their native America. Unfortunately, rock music was just as unpopular in NZ throughout the 2010's as it was worldwide which makes this their final successful album there as well.
#96
Given how Genesis were able to achieve massive success in NZ even prior to their magnum opus Invisible touch this decade, I guess it makes sense that this Grammy award winning album from Phil Collins wasn't as big over there as it was internationally both as an album and especially with its singles.
#95
Much like the rest of the world, this was INXS's biggest album in NZ due to how big the singles were at the time, although like in Australia, it didn't reach its peak until the success of the fourth single which is often considered to be their signature track even to this day.
#94
It's hard to say if this was the album which made John Denver a household name over in NZ considering how the RIANZ charts only go back to when this was initially released and not factor in his previous albums over there, from what I can gather he didn't have much success prior to this album there due to the previous charts Listener not ranking his earlier singles high on their charts.
#93
It appears that the world tour that Neil Young and Crazy horse gave for their Rust never sleeps album was so compelling for the kiwis to listen to that the live album proved to be more successful over there than the studio album it was based on. That's impressive considering how huge the studio album was over there.
#92
This proved to be an even bigger success over in NZ for Tina Turner, I'm guessing because the kiwis were really rooting for her this decade given how she wasn't quite as successful over there throughout the 80's as she was in Australia. This also rebounded over there once her biopic was released two years after its initial release.
#91
This was a success twice in NZ, the first time was upon its initial release due to the Talking heads already having success over there in the late 70's with their album More songs about buildings and the second time was when the big hit from the album on Billboard became as such over there several months after its initial release.
#90
Unlike in Australia where I'm not dead remains her biggest album, in NZ, that honour goes to P!nk's fifth album which managed to be almost as successful over there as it was over here by having its singles be hits as opposed to the singles on her previous album. Admittedly the only album she found more success with over there was her second album from way earlier in the decade.
#89
Unlike in Australia where this was only a modest success due to the goodwill that Bryan Ferry had accumulated throughout the 70's with his solo career, in NZ this was a massive success as it was the second album the band released following their reunion from 1978 and the success of their previous album Manifesto from the previous year.
#88
This wasn't as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia, mainly because the singles didn't catch on over there like they did here likely due to them feeling out of place charting with all of the RNB and hip hop becoming popular at the time. It could be that or the kiwis were conflicted in having a then three-year-old album be a massive success at the time.
#87
This was the biggest hit of the 70's in NZ, it's curious because it wasn't even his big international hit (which we'll look at in a moment) proving that even from its inception, the RIANZ charts were able to display the kiwis as contrarians when it came to the music industry.
#86
The parallels of BEP's success in NZ compared to what they achieved in Australia were identical as each of the songs on this second album with Fergie proved to be just as successful over there as they were over here in addition to the album also being as successful in both countries.
#85
This had a similar trajectory to its popularity over in NZ than it did here in Australia, namely that it was a decent success upon its initial release only to then become a massive success once it became a critical darling over in America. Given how much the kiwis loved throwback albums from female artists this decade, it was twice as successful over there than it was over here for the troubled singer.
#84
Given how Genesis already scored massive success with their previous album from earlier in the decade in NZ, it only makes sense that this magnum opus from the trio would be an even bigger success over there compared to its success here. Again, this came at the expense of the singles not being as big there as they were here.
#83
Much like the rest of the world, the kiwis weren't interested in this debut album from Maroon 5 upon its initial release in 2002, however they changed their minds also like the rest of the world when the second single began making waves on the radio. While the band did have their naysayers back in the day, at least it was mainly from people who merely found them overrated as opposed to what everyone thinks of them now.
#82
So, this was a massive success for the Cars in NZ but not here in Australia, admittedly this was mainly a success over there due to the popularity of their second album, but it was still inescapable over there once the kiwis did discover how awesome the album was. That's certainly more than I can say for us Aussies who likely thought that Candy O was the band's debut album back in the day.
#81
As with most alternative albums from the 90's, this album from R.E.M managed to be twice as successful over in NZ than it was in Australia likely due to the two lead singles cracking their top ten over there when they flopped here. One thing to note was that the big hit from the album "Everybody hurts" in Australia was only a modest success over in NZ for the band.
#80
I guess the success of Genesis really did help out everyone involved with the group during this point in time as Peter Gabriel was able to score massive success in NZ with this album due to how similar he sounded on here to Phil's solo work from around this time. Much like in Australia, this rebounded on the charts due to the success of the third single worldwide.
#79
Opshop are a NZ Britpop band who scored a massive hit with their second album thanks to the singles becoming a massive success for them in their homeland. Their next album was also a massive hit for the band at the start of the 2010's, however they haven't released any new material since due to them going on hiatus in 2013.
#78
It looks like Hammer time was a much bigger deal in NZ than it was here in Australia, OK so given this was a hip hop album from the 90's, of course it was going to be more successful there than it was here both as the album and the singles it spawned.
#77
It's no surprise that this was one of the biggest albums of the decade in NZ given how it managed to make an appearance on the Australian side of my site, after all, if even we Aussies can appreciate the talent on display here, then there was little doubt that her fellow kiwis would make this an instant classic over there.
#76
Much like here in Australia, this sophomore album from Kelly Clarkson had a bit of a slow start to its success due to her being seen as little more than a reality show contestant upon its initial release in NZ, however it eventually won the kiwis over like it did for us Aussies which allowed it to be one of the biggest albums of the decade over there. Interestingly, this was their introduction to her music given how her debut or its singles didn't even chart over there.
#75
This had a similar reason for becoming a success this year that it did in Australia, the main difference of course is that given that the kiwis were already familiar with this guy as "I don't believe in if anymore" was a huge hit on the Listener charts from the start of the decade, the album was more of a success over there.
#74
It remains their most popular album in their career, so naturally it would be a massive success for NZ back in the day given how it was a huge success around the world for Supertramp. Interestingly it proved to be even bigger over there than it was here, likely because they had more mainstream appeal there than they did here.
#73
While the previous entry remains Talking head's biggest success in NZ, this was a close second due to it spawning multiple hits over there that have remained on oldies stations worldwide to this day. Interestingly the big hit here in Australia was their weakest hit over there for some reason.
#72
This was an album that was a success multiple times throughout the decade in NZ, the first time was upon its initial release given how well received Phil Collin's solo material was during the first half of the decade. It lingered around the lower half of the charts for the next two years (hence its lower placement on this list) before skyrocketing in popularity due to the success of "Home by the sea" over there around the time Invisible touch was taking over the charts worldwide.
#71
While it still took them five albums to find a mainstream audience in NZ, at least RCHP had more immediate success with this album as the lead single did allow it to chart in the upper echelons of the album charts before the second single became a runaway success for the band this year. Indeed, they're another band to find more success overall in NZ than they did in Australia.
#70
This album only came out this year in NZ due to it needing to be a success here in Australia before Men at Work's label could market it to an international audience, indeed the album was a huge success over there despite the failure of their debut single which was made up for when the third single was a bigger hit there than it was here.
#69
While it obviously wasn't as inescapable in NZ as it was in Australia, this debut album from Savage Garden managed to be a massive success over there likely due to how it was taking the Billboard charts by storm with its singles. The singles weren't massive here, but the album was, which as an inverse of the success of their next album over there.
#68
This was the biggest album that Madonna had in NZ as was the case throughout the rest of the world, it even allowed her debut album to become a success over there throughout the year finally allowing the kiwis to see what all the fuss was about when it first came out.
#67
This proved to be even more of a success in NZ that it was here in Australia, even taking into account that it did much better on the AMR charts than on ARIA, the kiwis simply loved this third album from Radiohead more than we ever could.
#66
This proved to live up to the standards of Thriller as far as the kiwis were concerned as it was only slightly less successful over there than it was on Billboard, as such his next album didn't feel like a comeback over there despite it still being bigger than this was throughout the 90's.
#65
Given how Robbie Williams was already one of the biggest names in music entering the 00's in NZ, it only makes sense that his third solo album would be an instant success over there as opposed to here where it needed the runaway success of one of its singles to become as such. His popularity over there would line up with how big it was over here with his subsequent material later in the decade.
#64
It appears the kiwis were too much in love with MJ to allow this greatest hits/studio album hybrid to be a flop this decade much like us Aussies were, regardless of how you feel about his personal antics you can't deny he was an immense talent whose music still manages to resonate with audiences to this day.
#63
This was equally as popular in NZ as it was here in Australia for Lady Gaga, it's funny how things would turn out for her throughout the decade given how this and her debut album promised her inescapable popularity like her obvious influence Madonna had in the 80's and 90's.
#62
This proved to be an even bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing because Britpop was taking over the NZ charts around this time but also because the kiwis didn't seem to have much tolerance for teen pop at the time like we Aussies did.
#61
Well at least the kiwis were able to instantly recognise this as one of the biggest albums of the decade, then again, these guys already saw massive success in the 70's with their first two albums over there so this being a huge success there is less surprising and more proof that it wasn't a bigger hit here.
#60
Unlike in Australia where this was only a moderate success for New order, this was arguably the biggest hit of the decade due to its refusal to die on their charts for such a long time. Indeed, this song was so popular that it lasted well over two years on the singles charts which was unheard of by the 80's over there.
This is the biggest hit single of all time in NZ
#59
This was a massive hit for Toni Childs in NZ, definitely more so than it was in Australia meaning that the kiwis were in love with this woman's music back in the day unlike her fellow Americans. This led to her having success over there with her second album just like she did here, although that was the last the kiwis had heard from her.
#58
The success of this album from Moby in NZ came about the same way it did internationally, that is, the singles were flogged on every commercial imaginable going into the new millennium which drove those who weren't a fan of the album insane back in the day. Still it did allow the techno musician to find success that had alluded him throughout the 90's.
#57
AC/DC had success with their previous album Blow up your cool in NZ, however it was this album that finally made them a household name over there given how it managed to be an even bigger success for them there than it was here in Australia. Indeed, they would go on to have massive success in NZ throughout the 90's with their subsequent follow ups.
#56
Well, I supposed this albums placement on this list would seem more reasonable compared to its placement on the Australian side of my site, indeed this album was as inescapable over in NZ as it was in the band's native America even if it lacked that huge hit there that it had here.
#55
Well at least the album proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia for James Blunt, although it's worth noting that the singles didn't bring in the numbers over there like they did over here which is strange considering how most albums we've looked at so far on these lists had singles that performed better over there than they did over there back in the day.
#54
This is another album that wasn't quite as successful in NZ as it was in Australia, although it was still inescapable over there largely through the strength of the second single becoming his first big hit in the UK which in turn made it his biggest hit throughout most parts of the world including in the southern hemisphere.
#53
It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that these guys were so much more successful in NZ than they were here in Australia during the disco phase of their career, then again, they saw massive success over there during their early Beatles esque era so perhaps the kiwis just loved these guys overall more so than us Aussies.
#52
Their previous album was a bit of a commercial disappointment for RHCP in NZ, however they were able to bounce back with this album proving that they were still in the big leagues when it came to the kiwis (fun fact, their biggest releases were every second album in their catalogue.) Given how the 2010's was as hostile to rock music in NZ as it was internationally, their subsequent follow ups also flopped over there.
#51
Unlike here in Australia where this needed to be a hit twice for Duffy to become a best seller, it was an instant success over in NZ thanks to the lead single becoming a massive success upon its initial release over there likely due to its inclusion on the Sex in the city theatrical film. Sadly, this didn't do Duffy any favours going into the 2010's given how Adele stole her crown as the queen of throwback soul music.
#50
Well, it might not have been as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, however at least this album from the Eagles was able to spawn hits for the band over there which I feel more than makes up for it as the album was still a massive success there whilst also making the band a household name on NZ's singles charts.
#49
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, this is just further proof that tampering with an album's release schedule does little to impact its overall success even if the third single from this album was delayed here due to Australian idol shenanigans rather than to promote the album. Their career trajectory over there was the same as it was over here.
#48
These guys had a similar rise to success over in NZ as they did in Australia, although I guess it took slightly longer as they didn't have a Triple J equivalent to crown the lead single of their second album as the best song of 1994 and needed to wait for the song to be a massive chart topper here before it crossed over there.
#47
Unlike here in Australia where this album needed the success of the band's iconic hit "Legs" to even chart, in NZ this was a modest success upon its initial release only for its popularity to explode a year later when their aforementioned track became a massive worldwide success for them.
#46
This was a huge success for Oasis over in NZ, so much so that it allowed their debut album to finally became a success there too which is something that wasn't able to happen here in Australia. I guess this means the kiwis were bigger fans of the Gallagher's than we Aussies could ever hope to be.
#45
Well, there's little surprise that this was a massive success for Eminem over in NZ like it was throughout the rest of the world, it's release schedule over there was almost identical to what it was here in Australia, the only exception being that "Superman" was released around the same time as "Business" due to the kiwis being unable to decide on which song they wanted to support from the album.
#44
It appears the kiwis were also interested in having Green day reinvent themselves from punk rockers singing about masturbation (among other things) to becoming politically active against the American government on this album, in fact I get the feeling this was more of a surprise comeback over there than it was here given how none of their albums since Dookie had any success whatsoever prior to this.
#43
While their previous album was a huge hit in NZ like it was here in Australia, I'm sure the kiwis were happier than anyone else in the world for them to return to their original sound given how inescapably popular this album was for them over there. Also given how airplay was a factor on their singles charts when this came out, the singles proved to have much longer runs on the charts than their earlier hits.
#42
While this album wasn't initially as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia due to it lacking that big hit over there, it eventually became more successful over there due to her embarking on a well tour that helped the kiwis appreciate her tender ballads which set her next album up for success there.
#41
This proved to be an even bigger success in NZ for Olivia Newton John, although to be fair this was during the earliest stages of the RIANZ charts so perhaps its popularity wasn't as bloated as its lengthy chart run would otherwise suggest.
#40
There's little surprise that this would be a massive success for Taylor Swift over in NZ as the decade was coming to an end, although it's worth noting that it wasn't released over there until the lead single became a massive worldwide success for the (then) teenage country star. Rest assured that if I were to look over the albums of the 2010's, she would have the most entries out of any other artists on this site.
#39
I'm sure this was as big of a surprise for the kiwis as it was everywhere else in the world that Paul Simon managed to achieve massive success with this Grammy award winning album, sure the lead single wasn't as big over there but who cares when he had such a massive hit with the album?
#38
Unlike in Australia where Billy Joel had some success with his previous efforts, this was the first that the kiwis had heard from him which is likely why it was a bigger success for him over there than it was over here. Although it's worth noting that his overall popularity there couldn't hold a candle to what it was here.
#37
This was more of an immediate success in NZ than it was in Australia, as such it managed to have a higher peak over there despite doing as well in both countries as each other for the iconic guitarist.
#36
Well, I guess you can argue that we Aussies weren't as into this debut album from Guns n Roses as the kiwis were, not only was the album itself more successful over there but so were the singles as it managed to spawn two more hits over there that were never successful here in Australia.
#35
Much like in Australia, this album took its sweet time in becoming a best seller in NZ due to the lead single being released without a music video, I'm sure this albums success would've been more immediate if either A: "How will I know" had been released with a music video or B: this wasn't the height of the MTV era where a single without a video was a death sentence to its success.
#34
There were no signs of JT's music career slowing down over in NZ when he dropped his second solo album, true it wasn't a chart topper like it was over here and throughout the rest of the world, however that didn't really matter considering the singles were as popular there as they were internationally, and that the album lasted equally as long on the charts.
#33
While Richard Clayderman had moderate success in Australia throughout the 80's, the French pianist's popularity was unavoidable over in NZ proving how much the kiwis loved classical music back in the day.
#32
It appears the kiwis were quicker to make this soundtrack from the most lucrative theatre show of all time a huge success than us Aussies, I'm guessing because they would see the show before us Aussies who had to wait for the 90's to experience the magic of this adaptation of the crime noir from the 1800's.
#31
I can't say if the Eagles were among the biggest bands of the decade in NZ during the first half of the 70's, however they did see even more success over there with their Australian breakthrough album One of these nights than they did here which makes this greatest hits album success over there make more sense.
#30
Just as the decade was coming to an end, Gin Wigmore managed to get out her debut album which proved to be a huge success during the final months of the 2000's as well as well into the 2010's, proving how popular NZ indie music was during this time period.
#29
It appears the kiwis were more touched by the emotional concert that Eric Clapton gave on MTV unplugged, so much so that it was an even bigger success over there than it was here making it easily one of the most successful albums of all time over there.
#28
This may have come out earlier in the decade, however it was still popular enough by the time the RIANZ charts launched for it to be one of the biggest albums of the year, it goes to show how inescapable this was from Neil Diamond back in the day.
#27
This was a massive success for Queen over in NZ so much more so than it was here in Australia, I'm guessing the kiwis were more upset with Freddie Mercury's passing given how the band's back catalogue flooded their charts over there from around this time.
#26
Unlike in Australia where this had most of its success when Linkin Park had their big hit on Billboard, in NZ it had most of its success upon its initial release in lieu of the lead single becoming a hit over there like it was down under. Indeed, the band didn't have much success with their singles over there throughout the decade, however it was in favour of their albums seeing much more success.
#25
Well, this wasn't the most successful album of the decade in NZ, although it was still a massive success for the king of pop over there despite it also needing to find an audience with how audiences were put off with its lead single.
#24
Alanis Morrissette really struck a chord with listeners back in the day when she released her first album outside of her native Canada, although it's worth noting that the singles on this album weren't as inescapable in NZ as they were over here save perhaps for the second single which wasn't that big over here.
#23
Unlike in Australia where these guys needed the success of their biggest album Little creatures in order for this soundtrack to find success, it was an instant success in NZ due to the band already being a household name by this point over there with their previous album Speaking in tongues.
#22
It appears the kiwis were massive fans of Robbie William's solo career, so much so that this greatest hits package which overlooks his two solo albums from the 90's was a huge success for him despite it being a massive failure here in Australia. It appears his popularity over there this decade was the inverse of what it was for his band Take that in that his solo career was inescapable while the band were nobodies.
#21
She may not have ever had that chart topper in NZ with any of her singles, however at least Celine Dion was able to find plenty of success with her albums back in the day given how this Grammy award winning album was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade over there.
#20
Well, the kiwis not only loved classical music this decade, but also music from a guy who played the pan flute as this album from Romanian musician Gheorghe Zamfir managed to become a massive success over there for reasons I can't seem to fathom.
#19
These guys did have success in their homeland throughout the 70's, so it's less surprising to see that this was a massive hit over there at the start of the decade even though it absolutely owes most of its success there to how it became a massive success here in Australia.
#18
Before she became a mainstay for the controversial religious group Hillsong, Brooke Fraser was a popular folk singer/songwriter from NZ who scored a massive hit with her debut album at the tender age of twenty. While she never was able to crossover to Australia despite eventually joining the Australian religious group, I doubt she cared considering how inescapable she was in her homeland.
#17
This was an even bigger success in NZ than it was in Australia, possibly due to Smashing pumpkins already being mainstream by the time their third album was released over there which also explains how the album managed to spawn several minor hits for them where it only had the one down under.
#16
This was another inevitable reappearance for this site of mine, naturally the singles from Mariah's third album were much bigger over in NZ given how much the kiwis had embraced both RNB and diva ballads by this point in time.
#15
One of the biggest names in NZ music this decade was Fat Freddy's Drop, a reggae band who took their local scene by storm thanks to their catchy reggae tunes connecting with the kiwis to the point where they naturally sparked international interest in their music. Sadly, they remain a cult favourite at best outside of their homeland, however they certainly had an impressive run in their local mainstream regardless.
#14
It's hard to say what was popular in NZ during the first half of the decade, what I do know is that this was the most popular album over there during the second half of the 70's thanks to the drama that went into this album resonating with them back in the day. Sadly, there weren't any improvements with the success of the singles over there like so many other albums on these lists.
#13
This proved to be an even bigger success in NZ than it was in Australia (if that was even possible) likely due to the songs being bigger hits over there which suggests that the kiwis were more in love with heartland rock around this time than us Aussies were (again if that was even possible.)
#12
This was the biggest album of the 90's in NZ as it was throughout the rest of the world, in fact there's little surprises to this albums success over there except that the two biggest hits over there were the third and fourth big hits the Shania had here in Australia as opposed the first and second.
#11
Unlike in Australia where this was an instant inescapable classic for MJ, it appears the kiwis were prepared to write this off as a mere moderate success for him until "Give in to me" became one of the biggest hits of the decade which allowed this album to rebound on the charts over there and become a best seller.
#10
It was already a huge success for U2 here in Australia, however its success down under was pitiful compared to how well it did in NZ thanks to the singles being massive hits over there from the album. I'm not sure why this album underperformed here in Australia comparatively, I guess we were a little slow in realising the genius of the songs from the record.
#9
The kiwis were just as enamoured with this greatest hits package as we Aussies were, again this was due to the success of a bonus track from the album becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade over there.
#8
Given how these guys already had minor success over in NZ by the time Fergie joined their ranks for this album, it makes sense that it would be more of an immediate success over there than it was here in Australia which resulted in its being slightly more success over there. Still, this was the only reason why it ranks slightly higher on these lists as once it did crossover here, its popularity was inescapable.
#7
She already had a massive breakthrough with her debut album from the late 90's, so it's only natural that Bic Runga's second album would be even bigger this decade given how the kiwis had finally begun to look after their own music scene at the turn of the millennium. She would have another successful album later in the decade proving that her popularity was phenomenal but not something that would last forever.
#6
This was the biggest album of the decade over in NZ, I guess the kiwis really wanted to listen to jazz throwbacks given how the likes of Amy Winehouse and Duffy would also receive much more success over there throughout the decade than what they achieved here in Australia.
#5
Given how John Farnham wasn't the most successful artist of the 80's in NZ, this allowed Dire Straits to have the most successful album of the decade over there with their biggest album. It also managed to be more successful with the singles due to having the correct release schedule over there.
#4
Well, there's no surprise that Rod Stewart would be a huge success in NZ this decade, this is also his biggest album over there due to the kiwis falling in love with his ballads which are still successful on oldies stations to this day.
#3
This was a massive success over in NZ, I'm guessing they really appreciated the band slightly altering their sound from Communique (which was still a success over there for what it's worth.) This would be the first blockbuster album of the decade over there as it took three years to leave the charts.
#2
This became a success twice in NZ throughout the decade, the first time was upon its initial release and the second was when "I don't want to talk about it" unexpectedly became a huge success two years after its release over there. Admittedly that song also did reasonably well here in Australia albeit as a sleeper hit.
#1
This was an album that refused to die on the NZ charts, granted this was also the case worldwide but the kiwis kept this around in the mainstream for quite a number of years since its initial release hence why it's appearing on this list.
